When the pope visits cities, the cost is astronomical. I'd say in the millions of dollars (the popes visit to Ireland cost $32 million Euros). Why would the SSPX pay millions or even $10,000 to carry the statue down from a choir loft?

You'd think that kind of money would be better spent given to the poor.  125 families could receive a quarter million euros.

Yes, perhaps those priests need to get some weight training equipment at their residence.  

Or dare I say Resistance training?

The Guimaraes article then is totally unreliable since he says "The Archbishop of Quito, Fausto Trávez Trávez forbade the group of good Catholic men who for two decades have been bringing the Statue from the choir to the Church from carrying out this work", it does not say Franciscan priests.  

If you read the whole article you would find...

“The Archbishop was called and he decided that the Franciscans should carry it down. The Statue allowed herself to be transported by the Franciscans

I also heard from well-informed persons that, when the SSPX priests tried to lift the Statue from the choir to bring her down to the Church, the Statue became so heavy that they were unable to do so. By the way, it is known that this is a common way for the Statue to show her displeasure: the Statue becomes so heavy that it cannot be transported even by a group of strong men. 
 
 According to these trustworthy sources, the situation was so embarrassing that the nuns did not know what to do. The Archbishop was called and he decided that the Franciscans should carry it down. The Statue allowed herself to be transported by the Franciscans, but they could not move the Child Jesus, who in turn became insurmountably heavy. So, for that first night the Statue remained in the Church without the Christ Child in her arm. The next morning the Mother Superior could easily pick up the Child and place Him in the arm of His Mother.

 
OK. Isn’t it time, before this thread goes any further, that this story unfolded just as described? Can we either absolutely confirm or absolutely deny that this statue became too heavy for sspx priests to carry? Can we absolutely confirm or deny that the Franciscans, on the other hand, were able to lift and transport the statue? In other words, did it happen as recorded above, or didn’t it? Has the story been thoroughly corroborated? I, for one, am not certain, from all the previous posts taken collectively, that the incident did, or did not occur as explained.

What a mess!

Let's get back to reality here, Mr. Guimaraes article is showing itself to be unresearched and emotionally based, very uncharacteristic of him. Here are just three quotes that he wrote in this article that discredits the entire article:

1) The statue can change it's face according to how it feels - this would be a spectacular miracle for the world to see, not just a comment in an article. What proof does he have?

2) The statue can makes itself heavy so that no one can lift her, and makes itself light so that even an elderly lady can lift it. - Again, this would be a spectacular miracle for the world to see, not just a comment in an article. What proof does he have?

3) The bishop got bribed by the SSPX - this is a serious charge that he posts based on only hearsay (which he acknowledges in the article) . Not only that, it makes no sense, why would the SSPX pay the millions of dollars of which the Bishop is still in debt after the pope's visit, or even $10,0000, just to get the privilege of replacing the Franciscan priests who have always been carrying the statues down from a choir loft?  

Sorry about font size it changed once I posted. 

Which side of the story is true however, only those directly involved know the truth.

Which means, I guess, we're back to square one.